The Centre for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR) has asked the Kogi State House of Assembly to reduce the whooping N10.48 billion allocated to Government House by 40 per cent for virement to the housing sector.
Executive Director of the group based in the state, Idris Miliki, who spoke during the commencement of the 2019 budget defence at the floor of the House of Assembly, said the Government House does not generate revenue and hence should not spend that amount on frivolities when other serious issues are begging for attention.
“How can Government House spend N10 billion and they are not generating revenue,” he said.
Miliki also took a swipe at the House of Assembly for not organising a public hearing on the 2019 budget proposals to get the input of the people.
He said: “We expect that since December 24 when the budget was presented, the Assembly should have organised a public hearing.
“A budget is a bill and if they can organise public hearing for other bills, why should the budget be exceptional.
“We expect that as elected representatives of the people, they should engage the people by allowing them to make presentations but they have failed or refused to conduct public hearing.”
He said they could not do public hearing after the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) must have commenced presentations.
The director, who noted that some MDAs are not generating but are busy spending money, lauded the Ministry of Transport for generating N68.5 million and only spent N25 million.
Miliki urged the ministry to explore the marine transport opportunity in the state as part of the development of the sector.
Besides, he lamented that in spite of the menace of flood disaster that has become a reoccurring decimal, no fund was released to the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) in 2018.
He wondered why the budget of 2019 was yet to be uploaded on the website of government as against the 2018 budget uploaded as at when due.
